Confessions Of A Bookaholic || by Holly Kilminster

08/06/2017

I originally wanted to call my blog ‘Confessions of a Bookaholic’ in celebration of my favourite fictional heroine of all time, Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) from Sophie Kinsella’s marvellous Shopaholic books. However, it turns out that this wasn’t meant to be (someone else had already taken that URL…) so I jiggled the words around a bit to come up with ‘Bookaholic Confessions’ – taa-dah!

As much as I love the title of my blog, sometimes it gets me thinking – if I were to share my own book-related ‘confessions’ what would they be? Do I have any reading habits that I like to keep hidden? Do I have any secrets lurking in the back of my book-obsessed mind? Looking at the list I compiled it would appear that I certainly do…

I judge a book by its cover.

I’m like a magpie of the book-world…I’m a sucker for a nice, attractive, colourful cover that is pleasing on the eye- One that intrigues me and grabs my attention. Many a time I have picked up a book and decided I was going to read it purely based on the cover alone. Does that make me a terrible person?

I am a serial book-multi-tasker.

If there is any opportunity at all for me to fit in a few extra reading minutes then I will take full advantage of that. Whether it’s whilst I’m gulping down my breakfast (And spilling coffee all down my front when I get to a good bit) or squeezing in a few pages whilst drying my hair (which usually results in a bad hair day, but I figure it’s worth it…)

I LOVE THE SMELL OF BOOKS.

I absolutely adore the smell of books, new and old, and if that makes me weird then SO BE IT. The glorious smell of new paper and print is easily as fantastic as the yellowing musty-paged classics.
Whilst I am yet to try this magnificent and wondrous invention for myself, The Library of Fragrance have released a scent in…wait for it…paperback. http://thelibraryoffragrance.com/products/paperback Mind. Blown.

My Bookshelves Aren’t in Order.

Perhaps the most shocking confession of all for someone who works in a library…Dun, dun, DUN…
The truth is, my collection of books has built up so rapidly that I have well and truly outgrown my massive bookshelf. (If anyone wants to buy me a new one, donations are welcome…)
The resulting situation is that my books are in a bit of a teetering-mess. I’m certain that at some point they are going to topple over and kill me in my sleep.
In an ideal world I would own enough bookshelves to accommodate my hundreds of books and they would all be neatly alphabetised and I would be able to lay my hands on any given book on 0.2525 seconds.

I have over-due library books.

It could be detrimental to my career to admit to this, but I’m writing this for HarperImpulse and I want it to be juicy…so…YES. I HAVE OVER-DUE LIBRARY BOOKS.
The thing is I like to borrow books from authorities other than the one I work for. I look at this as a good thing; I’m supporting libraries over different counties and doing my very small bit to contribute towards the ‘Use it or lose it’ ideology.
However, having the terrible memory that I possess, I often find that I have let my library books go over their due-date. (There is an unacceptable shortage of reading hours in the day…) But it’s ok. Do the crime, do the time (or ‘Do the crime, pay the late-fine’ you want to put that library-related spin onto things.)

I own too many books.

Probably the least surprising of my bunch of confessions is the fact that I own too many books. I could build a fort of books it’s gotten so bad. For every book I read I buy five more.
I can honestly say I will probably never, ever read all of the books that I own, even if I live to be one hundred and twenty seven. However, this thought makes me incredibly sad so I try not to dwell on it too much. So how could I solve this problem? Perhaps by never buying any new books ever again and reading the ones I actually own. But when I have the thought process of NEVER BUYING A BOOK AGAIN I start to come out in a rash, so it’s not really a viable option.

I’m always prepared.

I take a book EVERYWHERE I go (and I mean everywhere. You never know when you might be able to fit in ten minutes reading time…) but when I’m reading a physical book and I am almost finished I face a dilemma. This involves me carrying round an extra book ‘just in case’. Because, naturally if I DID finish the book and was left with spare reading minutes and no book then this would be a disaster. No wonder my handbags are always so heavy…

2 thoughts on “Confessions Of A Bookaholic || by Holly Kilminster”

Fab piece, Holly and nothing too bad in liking Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood), afterall it was that series of books that inspired my writing efforts! I’m also so glad that you do judge a book by it’s cover, afterall an excerpt of your review features on the back of both of mine. Shame on you for incurring late fees from libraries though, but on the plus side of that, I hope that you are certainly keeping them going by doing so.